Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for filling packages or containers with a cushioning material in which the cushioning material is supplied to the package or container by a supply unit, the contour properties of one or more packaged items in the package or container are determined by a scanner unit, processed by a logic unit, and based on this processing, a filling quantity of the volume of the package or container to be filled is determined and, derived from the latter, a variable quantity of cushioning material is dispensed into the package or container.
This invention also relates to a device that can be used to execute the above-mentioned method.
Discussion of Related Art
Particularly at mail-order companies, packages are usually individually filled according to customer wishes at a fully automated high bay warehouse. The articles ordered by the customer are placed into the package. Different package sizes are used depending on the number of articles to be placed in them. In order to prevent the articles inside from being damaged during postal transport, the remainder of the package is then filled with bulk cushioning material. In particular, foam peanuts are often used. As a rule, these foam peanuts are of a biodegradable material. They are dispensed into the package. The excess quantity is swept off so that the top surface is level with the top of the package. The package is then closed, labeled, and shipped. The swept-off cushioning elements are collected and prepared for filling subsequent packages. This manually executed packaging process is time-consuming and involves a significant amount of effort for collecting the excess foam peanuts.
German Patent DE 603 06 407 T2, as a translation of European Patent Reference EP 1 556 278 B1, describes a cavity-filling system for automatically preparing and dispensing a quantity of cushioning material, which is sufficient for filling the cavity remaining in a container into which one or more items have been placed. This cavity-filling system includes the following devices: a cushioning material dispenser able to dispense a controlled quantity of cushioning material, a container scanner which has a scanning region; the container scanner has a height sensor for detecting a height property of a container, a width sensor for detecting a width property of the container, a contour sensor for detecting a contour property of the one or more items in the container, and a logic unit that is able to process detected property information that have been received from the height sensor, the width sensor, and the contour sensor, in order to determine the quantity of cushioning material required to fill the remaining cavity in the container not occupied by the one or more items, and to instruct the cushioning material dispenser to dispense the determined quantity of cushioning material. Furthermore, the above-mentioned patent describes a device for automatically determining a quantity of cushioning material that is sufficient to fill the above-mentioned cavity.
It has in the meantime turned out to be disadvantageous that it is still first necessary to determine the volume of the package by a measurement device that requires a large number of additional sensors, which on the one hand increases the complexity of such a system and on the other hand, can be inconvenient when optimizing the throughput time. It has also turned out that a relatively high ratio of excess cushioning material still has to be dispensed.